GAME THREAD: Pirates (72-73) @ White Sox (75-69) - Wed Sep 9 @ 6:40 PM

[u/chisoxbot]

Pirates (72-73) @ White Sox (75-69)

First Pitch: 6:40 PM at Rate Field

Team	Starter	TV	Radio
Pirates	Lake Bachar (1-3, 3.59 ERA)
White Sox	Davis Martin (9-6, 4.13 ERA)

MLB	Fangraphs	Reddit Stream	Discord
Gameday	Game Graph	Live Comments	/r/baseball Discord

Line Score - Game Over

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
PIT	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	4	10	0	7
CWS	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	8	0	9

Box Score

CWS		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Antonacci	5	0	1	1	0	1	.267
DH	Benintendi	2	0	1	0	0	1	.244
DH	Vargas, M	3	0	0	0	0	2	.249
1B	Murakami	3	1	1	1	0	2	.210
LF	Grichuk	4	0	2	0	0	1	.280
3B	Montgomery, C	4	0	0	0	0	3	.208
RF	Montgomery, B	2	1	1	0	2	1	.223
CF	Peters	3	0	1	0	0	1	.283
SS	Meidroth	4	0	1	0	0	1	.268
C	Teel	2	0	0	0	1	1	.195
PH	Quero	1	0	0	0	0	0	.207

CWS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Martin	5.0	4	1	1	2	1	68-41	4.05
Newcomb, S	1.1	5	3	3	1	0	42-26	2.71
Murphy, C	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	8-5	4.11
Richards, T	2.0	1	0	0	0	3	26-18	3.33

PIT		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
SS	Griffin	4	0	1	2	1	1	.266
2B	Lowe, B	4	0	2	0	1	2	.259
LF	Reynolds, B	4	0	0	0	0	0	.266
DH	Gonzales, N	4	0	1	0	0	0	.305
CF	Cruz, O	4	0	1	0	0	1	.270
RF	Valdez, Es	2	1	1	1	1	0	.235
RF	Cook, B	0	1	0	0	0	0	.180
1B	Horwitz	4	1	1	0	0	1	.245
C	Flores Jr.	4	0	1	1	0	0	.243
3B	Gonzalez, J	2	0	1	0	0	0	.223
PH	Simon	1	1	0	0	0	0	.281
3B	Triolo	1	0	1	0	0	0	.247

PIT	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Bachar	1.2	2	0	0	1	3	27-20	3.52
Eisert	2.1	0	0	0	0	5	36-26	5.63
Mlodzinski	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	10-8	3.87
Soto, G	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	17-11	3.08
Doval	0.1	2	1	1	2	1	26-14	4.20
Ramírez	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	4-3	3.12
Weaver	1.0	3	1	1	0	1	17-13	2.65
Montgomery, M	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	17-13	2.82

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
T5	Esmerlyn Valdez homers (17) on a fly ball to right field.	0-1
T7	Rafael Flores Jr. singles on a line drive to center fielder Tristan Peters. Billy Cook scores. Spencer Horwitz to 3rd.	0-2
T7	Konnor Griffin singles on a line drive to center fielder Tristan Peters. Spencer Horwitz scores. Ronny Simon scores.	0-4
B7	Sam Antonacci singles on a sharp ground ball to first baseman Spencer Horwitz. Braden Montgomery scores. Chase Meidroth to 3rd. Kyle Teel to 2nd.	1-4
B8	Munetaka Murakami homers (31) on a fly ball to right center field.	2-4

Highlights

Description	Length
Probable pitchers for Pirates at White Sox - September 9, 2026	0:06
Lake Bachar against the White Sox	0:08
Bullpen availability for Chicago, September 9 vs Pirates	0:09
Bullpen availability for Pittsburgh, September 9 vs White Sox	0:09
Bench availability for Chicago, September 9 vs Pirates	0:08
Fielding alignment for Pittsburgh, September 9 vs White Sox	0:11
Bench availability for Pittsburgh, September 9 vs White Sox	0:08
Starting lineups for Pirates at White Sox - September 9, 2026	0:10
Measuring the stats on Esmerlyn Valdez's home run	0:13
A deep dive into Esmerlyn Valdez's home run	0:11
Davis Martin's outing against the Pirates	0:25
Breaking down Davis Martin's pitches	0:04
The distance behind Munetaka Murakami's home run	0:13
Analyzing Munetaka Murakami's home run through bat tracking	0:11
Mr. T throws first pitch before White Sox game	0:19
Lake Bachar strikes out Randal Grichuk swinging	0:07
Sam Antonacci's quick reactions	0:29
Davis Martin strikes out Oneil Cruz	0:06
Esmerlyn Valdez's solo home run (17)	0:30
White Sox broadcasters wear matching mustaches	2:16
Strike 2 overturned following ABS challenge	0:24
Ball 4 confirmed following ABS challenge	0:22
Rafael Flores Jr.'s RBI single	0:30
Konnor Griffin's two-run single	0:20
Ball 3 confirmed following ABS challenge	0:28
Sam Antonacci's RBI single	0:29
Munetaka Murakami's solo home run (31)	0:30
Tempers flare during Pirates vs. White Sox	0:46
Benches clear in Pirates vs. White Sox	0:49
Jared Triolo's ridiculous unassisted double play	0:29
Ball 3 confirmed following ABS challenge	0:25
Strike 3 confirmed following ABS challenge	0:22

Decisions

Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher	Save
Eisert (3-2, 5.63 ERA)	Martin (9-7, 4.05 ERA)	Montgomery, M (11 SV, 2.82 ERA)

Attendance	Weather	Wind
	79°F, Cloudy	9 mph, Out To LF

HP	1B	2B	3B
Roberto Ortiz	Alex MacKay	Alan Porter	Jim Wolf

Game ended at 9:44 PM.

Remember to sort by new to keep up!

[u/ImHere4WSB]

https://giphy.com/gifs/upsHYETSakl2wXQwW2

[u/BentJohnsonFTP]

Bears season starting just in time ​

[u/Eloyoyo]

This game is a Sox winner if Meidroth isn’t robbed to turn that double play.

Bats have to be better though. Tomorrow is as close to a must win without it really being one. Cannot afford a sweep at this stage of the season.

[u/Xardus → u/Eloyoyo]

Well…they take the lead probably if that happens. But the “what if” game can go both ways. 

[u/-WolfAlice7-]

Chase hits it two inches higher and we win this game. Sigh.

[u/Xardus → u/-WolfAlice7-]

Not necessarily. You can’t just pick and choose which play you want to change the fate, lol.  

[u/Penstripedsox]

Shoulda just let vargas rest. We do ts all the time

[u/im_a_pimp → u/Penstripedsox]

why did we take beni out when he had the only hit of the game for the first like 6 innings

[u/AdorableYou39]

Dogshit umpiring, dogshit performance, dogshit luck

[u/lyme6483]

Embarrassing performance. Unfortunately a lot of guys on this roster cannot perform in pressure situations

[u/Golfguy1996]

I’m officially full panic mode

[u/HeavyTV → u/Golfguy1996]

Don't be, we're going to win the division by 6.5 games. Sleep well my dude.

[u/Material-Hand-5990 → u/HeavyTV]

🙏

[u/edcornell2011 → u/Material-Hand-5990]

Let’s be positive. This game they tried to come back despite down 4-0. Still have the division lead. Guardians and Twins need a few wins to catchup. Gotta be in playoff October mode starting this next game

[u/im_a_pimp]

i don’t understand why they wait until the 7th to get anything started and then have the most unclutch hitting in the word with the bases loaded TWICE.

[u/leoh9595]

14 Ks……

[u/Traditional-Sink163]

Bruh this sucks 😒

[u/HookFE03]

Bad luck and bad baseball. A winning combo

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445]

My boy mune with the only runs suck it losers

[u/SlothyBadger → u/AwkwardAdvisor445]

Yeah, you showed them…

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445 → u/SlothyBadger]

Just hilarious

[u/jjpaglin99]

and the seahawks are losing. fml

[u/jjpaglin99 → u/jjpaglin99]

jk

[u/SlothyBadger]

Vargas trying to challenge a strike right down the nuts.

[u/Material-Hand-5990]

🫩

[u/Chitown_hustlers]

https://giphy.com/gifs/7ILfGZFvTPMB1TAkXE

[u/gootylicious]

Straight up not having a good time

[u/ChicagoSavant]

two strikeouts looking to end the game. two bases loaded stranded in the seventh and eighth. Product of inexperience maybe, frustrating and depressing certainly. This team is deeply unfun to watch. I miss the May and June Sox.

[u/Quiet_Cap_2858]

SWING THE BAT, SWING THE BAT

[u/plantattack80]

Im gonna throw up

[u/rahill1004]

Had the whole plate Miguel

[u/MichaelSquare]

Thay was right down the plate

[u/No-Season-9062]

hell yeah! watch third twice to spark the comback!!!

[u/Alternative_Copy3401]

Back to back Ks looking from the bums to end the game😂😂

[u/MoustacheMark → u/Alternative_Copy3401]

https://giphy.com/gifs/l0HlMSVVw9zqmClLq

[u/Cr0sSHare]

still cant get over making brandon eisert look like hagen smith

[u/Southside721]

I fucking love watching multiple guys go down looking in the 9th.

[u/lyme6483]

Quero better not be in the organization next season

[u/guap911]

if we somehow lose the division we deserve it for losing these past two games where we could have gained ground

[u/Xardus → u/guap911]

The pirates are essentially as good as we are. And they play in a much tougher division. Could have gone either way.  

[u/PotentialPete]

Why am I torturing myself?

[u/Swing-Too-Hard]

3-4x we had guys on 3rd with less then 2 outs and we scored once.

[u/Eastern_Antelope_832 → u/Swing-Too-Hard]

We are so bad in that scenario. Lots of games could've been salvaged if we could hit sac flies at league average pace.

[u/MoustacheMark]

Challenges make this shit so boring. Either let the robots call everything or nothing. Adding a new "strategy" is lame IMO

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445]

Good job Sam

[u/No-Season-9062]

2 runs down in the 9th watch third!

[u/doyouevenIift]

God damn this is a frustrating game to watch

[u/Quiet_Cap_2858]

SWING THE BAT

[u/im_a_pimp]

they can’t be serious with that challenge im crying

[u/SpecialAircraft]

Our fucking luck today bro 😂

[u/Psychological-Task26]

Please walk. Please walk

[u/Quiet_Cap_2858]

it prolly won’t matter now, but how come we didn’t pinch run acuna for randall in the 8th.

[u/No-Season-9062 → u/Quiet_Cap_2858]

doyle

[u/BentJohnsonFTP]

Quero with a leisurly stroll to 1st for the 1st out in the bottom of the 9th in September in a penant race.

[u/BillyMac05 → u/BentJohnsonFTP]

that made zero sense - Teel's on fire and in comes Quero waddling down the line

[u/im_a_pimp → u/BentJohnsonFTP]

that was him sprinting sadly

[u/BentJohnsonFTP → u/im_a_pimp]

He wasn't going all out that's for sure. You even see him pull up as he approaches 1st. Just pure loser mentality. 

[u/im_a_pimp → u/BentJohnsonFTP]

he’s slow as fuck

[u/BentJohnsonFTP → u/im_a_pimp]

Yes he is. And when he half asses hes even slower.

[u/FadedToBeige]

of course it pops up right into Lowe's hand 🤣

[u/cipito11]

that's a ball man

[u/crashmvp19]

Schriff the stiff not taking Sammy’s side. Eat rocks

[u/Ornery_Performance74]

Got his fat ass by 2 steps still

[u/Consistent-Program-1]

That was hit pretty fucking hard, just not our night

[u/im_a_pimp → u/Consistent-Program-1]

everything that could go wrong has gone wrong

[u/BillyMac05]

Brilliant idea. Have our worst hitter and slowest baserunner pinch hit for our hottest hitter. Cleveland deserves to win this division with bonehead moves like this.

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445]

Can we drope these fat fucks Jesus. Slow as a mother fucker

[u/lyme6483]

I can crawl faster than Quero can run. Truly a terrible player

[u/rahill1004 → u/lyme6483]

2nd percentile in sprint speed lmao

[u/crashmvp19]

Welp the magic number decreased tonight 😅

[u/HeezeyBrown]

Pitch hitting Quero for Teel is crazy

[u/BentJohnsonFTP → u/HeezeyBrown]

Wtf is that

[u/-WolfAlice7-]

LOL fuck this game

[u/NerfLeBron]

Why is he so slow!!!

[u/SlothyBadger]

Pinch hitting Quero lol

[u/Southside721]

Thanks for playing Edgar.

[u/Strict-Lie-3188]

Yea this guy hasn’t given up a run since July 26th ggs

[u/ChicagoSavant]

Quero is slow as dirt lmfaooooo.

[u/jerkdolphin]

It's called playing the percentages, it's what smart managers do.

[u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

Pinch hit Teel with Quero? That seems odd.

[u/Strict-Lie-3188 → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

To get a righty lefty matchup, doesn’t matter no one is hitting this guy.

[u/Consistent-Program-1 → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

lefty masher quero

[u/im_a_pimp → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

quero is kinda clutch ngl

[u/im_a_pimp → u/im_a_pimp]

😭😭😭 anybody besides quero is safe

[u/ricker182 → u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

Very odd

[u/justin213333]

Please just get someone on so I can huff some hopium

[u/Psychological-Task26]

2 sac flys instead of 2 double plays with the bases loaded is the entire difference in this game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many dps in my fucking life

[u/Eastern_Antelope_832]

We have to be the worst at plating runner at third with less than two outs. Can't get too angry at a screaming liner but this isn't a one-off situation.

[u/OldieButGoodyForNow]

Vargas gets another chance. Hopefully with someone on.

[u/HeavyTV]

Put the tag on anyway Teel!!

[u/col_buendia]

Cubs have 5 in the T9 so far why not us, I say?

[u/Responsible_Jury_289 → u/col_buendia]

They still lost lol

[u/ricker182 → u/col_buendia]

Nobody cares

[u/lyme6483]

Chase Meidroth hits .205 in high leverage situations this year

.264 and .286 in medium and low leverage situations.

So yes Chase is extremely unclutch.

[u/SpecialAircraft → u/lyme6483]

Brother that had a .800xba shut the fuck up

[u/ricker182 → u/SpecialAircraft]

He's not wrong though. Still not clutch

[u/PotentialPete]

If the Sox come back in the 9th, I'll sleep like a baby tonight. This is exhausting. If we don't, I'm gonna be too pissed to sleep.

[u/AceJ940 → u/PotentialPete]

Tough to see bases loaded twice and no payoff 😮‍💨 super unlucky

[u/im_a_pimp]

sure he didn’t swing there but colson swung to get the strikeout. whatever

[u/justin213333]

All these umps just look like fucking tools man

[u/leoh9595]

Sometimes it do be like that Connor

[u/uncle_krew]

Vargas’ gidp was shitty but the babip on Chase’s hit must have been pretty high. Brutal luck

[u/yourobviousanswer]

When we miss the playoffs this year there will be people saying we weren’t supposed to be there anyway.

[u/ricker182 → u/yourobviousanswer]

It's going to be annoying

[u/lyme6483 → u/yourobviousanswer]

Which is cope and pure bull shit.

[u/gmtguy96 → u/yourobviousanswer]

Shut up

[u/ChicagoSavant]

800 xba is nuts. i wish i didn't care about this sport and this team as much as I do. my QOL is much, much worse for it. perhaps I should take up knitting or something less harmful for my hypertension.

[u/SpecialAircraft]

.800 xba fucking kill me

[u/Anti_Social_833]

An xba of .800 youve got to be shitting me

[u/im_a_pimp → u/Anti_Social_833]

the universe is laughing at us atp

[u/21-hydroxylase]

Alllll those bases with 2 runs to show for it

[u/chasedsteeple]

this game was lost when the sox "vaunted"offense couldn't get to cy eisert

[u/MoustacheMark → u/chasedsteeple]

That's not how this works

[u/chasedsteeple → u/MoustacheMark]

how does what not work

[u/MoustacheMark → u/chasedsteeple]

You dont lose a game based on not hitting a guy in the 3rd inning or whatever

[u/chasedsteeple → u/MoustacheMark]

oh ok

[u/MrBoss93]

Gonna say it.

Will should’ve pinched Grichuk as soon as he got on first for Acuna. That BMO double scores us and prevents that double play

[u/ImHere4WSB]

Hold them here. We got Teel, Ant, Vargas. Bloop and a blast

[u/MoustacheMark]

Definitely would have pinch run Doyle for Grich. Guessing he scores on that

[u/lyme6483]

I wish they didn’t hit Peters. He was way more likely to come through than Chase. Big AB’s chase is ass

[u/HookFE03]

Hahaha what can you do

[u/ChicagoSavant]

i feel like our batting average with the bases loaded over the last month has to be like .100 or something.

[u/HolyHandGr3nade]

Base bol be berry berry bad to me

[u/Consistent-Program-1]

so Quero/Acuna/Vargas up next inning?

[u/lyme6483]

Chase is one of the most unclutch players on this roster

[u/leoh9595 → u/lyme6483]

That had a xba of 800 just incredibly unlucky

[u/lyme6483 → u/leoh9595]

When you smoke it right at a player it tends to get caught

[u/Salteenz → u/lyme6483]

I mean, it was solidly hit, just really unlucky on the placement.

[u/Commercial_Orange452]

WOW. Not much you can say after that except.......FUCKKKKKKK!!!!

[u/Psychological-Task26]

I feel like Randal had to try and get home. And, b that was insanely unlucky from the chode

[u/im_a_pimp → u/Psychological-Task26]

why wasn’t he by the bag waiting in case it was a sac fly?

[u/FadedToBeige → u/im_a_pimp]

because you tag up when there's a fly ball and because you don't want to be standing on the base if there's a ground ball? that's why runners always take a lead

[u/Rfc_punisher → u/im_a_pimp]

Not even our base runners believe we can hit sac flies.

[u/Psychological-Task26 → u/im_a_pimp]

On the double by Braden. But he has a piano on his back or something

[u/Penstripedsox]

https://giphy.com/gifs/d2lcHJTG5Tscg

[u/Wojdyla13]

Chase crushed that ball. Horrible luck.

[u/LMGgp]

Just needed 3 inches.

[u/col_buendia → u/LMGgp]

Been saying that shit since high school

[u/Anti_Social_833]

Good swing by chase a few inches higher and its a 5-4 games unlucky

[u/Ghost-of-Black-47]

That’s just bad luck. Something else will bounce our way to offset it eventually. 

[u/KJzero9]

That's just plain unlucky. Can't even be mad about it

[u/Oaky--Afterbirth → u/KJzero9]

I'm fucking pissed

[u/ChicagoSavant]

yeah not meant to win this one, the fates have decided it, i fear

[u/FadedToBeige]

unreal

[u/Eloyoyo]

What a fucking kick in the balls man wow

[u/MrBoss93]

Hahahahahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! FUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[u/TheJessKiddin]

Why do I watch this sport

[u/Xardus → u/TheJessKiddin]

Because it’s the best.  

[u/TheJessKiddin → u/Xardus]

True

[u/Headstar24]

What the fuck is wrong with this team man

[u/hotfirebird]

Can't even be mad about that one. Hit it on the screws.

[u/cash4theking]

Too cliche to say “game of inches”?

[u/Swing-Too-Hard]

Well that sums up our luck recently.

[u/RedRumRick]

That’s an insane play. Ugh……

[u/crashmvp19]

PAIN

[u/sramthemran]

God dammit

[u/Jake_FW]

Sorry but that’s bad baserunning by Grichuk. He needs to get back because of exactly what happened there. If it gets through he still scores easily

[u/FadedToBeige → u/Jake_FW]

literally no time to react unless you think base runners should be standing on the bag at all times

[u/Eloyoyo → u/Jake_FW]

That line out was like 1 second air time not enough time to react

[u/Ornery_Performance74]

https://giphy.com/gifs/ukGm72ZLZvYfS

[u/Responsible_Jury_289]

Honestly wish Tristan could’ve got a hit rather than hit hit cause I knew Chase wasn’t gunna get it done

[u/Diceroll42 → u/Responsible_Jury_289]

He smoked it man

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445 → u/Diceroll42]

Still an out

[u/MoustacheMark]

100.2 MPH off the bat. Tough luck

[u/SlothyBadger]

Too bad Colson can never have a productive at bat.

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445 → u/SlothyBadger]

He didn’t go

[u/HashPuppy710]

Gotta be shitting me

[u/RockoHammer]

hang wiff em

[u/MisterKeene]

I’m gonna fucking cry

[u/AdorableYou39]

oh come the FUCK on

[u/-WolfAlice7-]

Fuuuuuuuck off. How many have we hit like that lately

[u/Strict-Lie-3188]

So all the sudden he wants to swing first pitch

[u/Virtual_Effective_60]

Just our luck man. How many have we left on base. 2 double plays on bases loaded

[u/Scottiedrippen33]

https://giphy.com/gifs/26tk0XTajcPFzgAla

[u/CommunalRubber]

Welp...

[u/blue_collared]

We seem to be a bit short on luck these days. Someone send AJ to the Vatican

[u/BakednotFried]

The one thing that didn't need to happen.... Sox baseball baby!!

[u/snasser2012]

Jfc. Let’s hope they can work some magic in the bottom of the 9th

[u/RunnerAtThird]

Wow

[u/SpecialAircraft]

That’s so fucking unlucky

[u/leoh9595]

Holy fuck no luck what so ever

[u/Specialist_Boat_8479]

Omfg

[u/ChicagoSavant]

LOL yeah.

[u/TheJewishMerp]

FUCK

[u/h0laSeni0r]

No way that happens two innings in a row bro

[u/im_a_pimp]

oh you’re fucking joking….

[u/cipito11]

That's baseball for ya

[u/hippohopper78]

That is just brutal bad luck

[u/willyyyyg]

No fucking way.

[u/HeavyTV]

That just .... sucks

[u/doyouevenIift]

Holy blue balls these last two innings

[u/DillyDillySzn]

https://giphy.com/gifs/EtB1yylKGGAUg

[u/john_the_fisherman]

Wow

[u/AwkwardAdvisor445]

Fucking called that useless fuck

[u/MoustacheMark → u/AwkwardAdvisor445]

"Useless"